Tax office admits to error for self-employed people trying to file their tax returns - here's all you need to know

MoneySavingExpert.com investigated the issue after a number of people highlighted problems on social media and to founder Martin Lewis about trying to file their tax returns. In short, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was automatically inputting the incorrect amounts, often larger, of Government help given to people under the self-employment income support scheme (SEISS). 

This meant many people were faced with a bigger tax bills than expected on income they did not receive. 

HMRC has since admitted to MSE that there was a problem with its systems but has reassured us that the issue has now been fixed.

A spokesperson for HMRC said: "Our system has been designed to automatically check the box specified for SEISS grants. If there is a discrepancy between the amount a customer reports and the amount of grant they were paid, we automatically amend their return so it matches our records.

"For a short period of time our system was incorrectly amending returns to include the amount received from the first, second and third SEISS grants [for the previous tax year], instead of grants received between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2022."

Those affected took to social media to flag the issue

The issue has been resolved and customers don't need to take action

HMRC told us that their systems are now correctly inputting customers’ SEISS entries for grants received between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2022. It added that some customers have also had their tax return checked and amended manually to ensure their SEISS entry matches what they received.

But if you're still unsure about any automatic entries on your tax return it's best to give the HMRC a ring on 0300 200 3310.